If you have a furry companion like my Rocky Bear Smith that you love so much, it’s hard to not to share what you are eating…
Oh, that deadlocked, deep-souled stare that guilts you into giving up (sometimes too much) human food to their endearingly pleading gaze. Well, I wanted to start coming up with a solutions…
Here’s one! A gluten free crumbley cereal “bark” that is satisfying enough for me and my doggie!
Have you seen the ingredients on most doggie cookies and treats! Mystify and gag me! yuck! But this way, I can enjoy a great at home, ingredient-controlled treat WITH my furry love.

INGREDIENTS:
1 3/4 cups soaked buckwheat groats (*make sure they are not drowning in water, just moderately wet… rinse after soaking an hour until water runs relatively clear.)
1 cup of your fav. raw nut butter (I used almond, but I get Rocky would have loved peanut! Cashew may be dreamy!)
1 Tblspoon of vanilla paste
1/8 cup of coconut sugar
2 packets of stevia
(option… you can use honey instead of stevia if you are concerned about your doggie’s digestive system and you are okay with honey’s higher glycemic index)…but that is why I love cinnamon in abundance to help offset some sugar spikes.
3 Tblspoons or Ceylon cinnamon (more if you want!)
2 teaspoon of Himalayan pink salt
I sliced dried figs (since I love them and so does Rocky. Peanut butter with dried banana bits would be delish!)
(try adding hemp seeds for more health value and protein power!)DIRECTIONS:
1- Put all ingredients except dried fruit into food processor…mixed until moderately pulverized… you still want some whole groats throughout and not just a mushy paste
2- Pour onto you dehydrator’s teflex sheet. if you want to “score” it for uniform breaking later, you can do so with a knife or pizza cutter a few hours into the dehyrating.
3-Dehydrate for 10 hours at 118 or so (set your machine to about 125 since enough heat dissipates and won’t reach that degree.
4- Flip onto your other teflex sheet and dehydrate some more… another 8 hours or so. Or until it’s irresistably crunchy!!! I love and hate when my dehydrator is going because I love sampling, sampling, sampling under my guise of testing… haha!
5- Remove and let cool and break into pieces or follow your scoring.

Here’s the compromise. This recipe may not be sweet enough for the average American palate, but plenty sweet enough to satisfy your doggie safely. So, you can eat this with more dried fruit when having as a cereal or topped with a banana or other sweetener of choice. Or, just train yourself to enjoy the simple tastes of simple ingredients and break the standard sugar craving needs built upon a food industry that has put sugar in virtually every food under various names. (Don’t get me started). Plus, your doggie companion would probably enjoy being able to share more of what you eat without harm…and can do so if our human food choices were more basic and deliciously healthy! Go ahead… share a bowl of this cereal (even with milk of choice)… one big bowl for you; one appropriately sized bowl for Rocky.
I am so happy he loved it… and ate it all up! Proof that humans and dogs can really be besties and share more!
GUILT FREE, GLUTEN-FREE LIVING WITH OUR FURRIEST FRIENDS!!!

And here’s some information on why you should incorporate buckwheat groats into your routine!!!…and it’s not a wheat!!!

It’s a fruit seed that’s related to rhubarb and sorrel, so it’s gluten-free, making it a popular substitute for other wheat-based grains. Though it is usually thought of as a grain, buckwheat is actually the seed of a broadleaf plant related to rhubarb. While it is not a true grain, it is used like one in cooking, and it surpasses rice, wheat and corn on almost every measure of healthfulness (including the fact that rice, wheat, and corn are high on the glycemic scale, thus provoking a quick spike in blood sugar levels, a proven promoter of systemic inflammation). Buckwheat, on the other hand, ranks low on the glycemic scale.

The fruit seed originated in China and spread to Europe and Russia, where it’s often eaten as porridge. However, buckwheat has found a home in the West Virginia region, where it’s been celebrated for years at an annual buckwheat festival.

Buckwheat is also high in manganese, magnesium, copper, and zinc, which are great for the immune system. It also contains all eight essential amino acids, including lysine, which plays a key role in collagen production and is not produced by the human body. Ramirez says people prone to cold sores should try eating buckwheat, since lysine helps wear them off.

How to select: Buckwheat comes in various forms, so it helps to know what you want to use it for before heading to the grocery store. For raw buckwheat, or buckwheat groats, head to the bulk bins area of the store. You can also find groats packaged.

For baking, buckwheat flour is packaged and readily available at most stores. There are also buckwheat noodles, also known as soba noodles, which can be found in the gluten-free section of grocery stores.